Background

Management of catchments of multipurpose river
valley projects is essential to sustain the
performance and life of the projects. The reservoirs
of river valley projects receive water from a number
of streams present on their respective catchments,
therefore, the inflow and accumulation of sediments
transported by these streams, more particularly the
silt into the reservoir is inevitable. Continuous
deposition of silt into a reservoir reduces the
storage capacity and thereby the life span of the
projects is cut short. Therefore, holistic
management of catchments of river valley projects is
essential to reduce the menace caused by perpetual
siltation. Such management requires overall
treatment of various factors of ecological
degradation in the catchment, both the natural and
manmade. The inhabitants of the catchment i.e. human
beings, cattle and wildlife depend on various
natural resources available in the catchment for
their existence, and therefore, any over
exploitation of these natural resources lead to
degradation of the environment and consequently the
life and sustainability of the reservoirs affected
adversely. Environment protection and management of
catchment, therefore, requires a holistic approach
for treatment involving active participation of the
stake holders.

In Odisha Upper Kolab and Upper
Indrāvati multipurpose river valley projects were
set up in the years 1988 & 2001 respectively. No
systematic management of catchments of these two
river valley projects has been attempted in the
past, as a consequence the reservoirs of both these
two river valley projects have now become vulnerable
to high siltation. It has been apprehended that if
timely intervention aiming treatment of catchments
of these reservoirs will not be taken up, the life
of reservoirs will cut short drastically. To address
the long felt need implementation of the Catchment
Area Treatment Plans (CATP) of these two river
valley projects have been entrusted to the Odisha
Forestry Sector Development Society.